Did the Obama team fumble the preparation for the huge Portland waterfront rally today?

[Sensitivity]

I caught the first part of the speech carried on CNN and got the distinct impressions that Obama was unfocused.

He was not delivering his call to hope and change with the kind of coherence and passion that I would have expected of a leader seeking to move such a mass of humanity to commitment and action.

Is he preoccupied with the particulars of the town-hall sessions he is doing? Or distracted by the unity negotiations with the Clinton team? Has his team been cowed by Clinton’s criticisms of “Big Speaches?” Whatever the reason, I think it is a disservice to the large crowds that come out to his rallies when he is unprepared to deliver substance with clarity and coherence the way his foot soldiers have come to expect.

[sandnsea]

1. lol, nobody has expressed any disappointment

But nice try I guess.

[Sensitivity]

3. Great! I caught the first part shown on CNN and was concerned

[Frank Cannon]

2. I like you

You're funny.

[Ken Burch]

6. Which classic rock group is that in your post?

I think it's ELO(Electric Light Orchestra)but I could be wrong.

[dipsydoodle]

7. You're correct

They made magic music.

[shadowknows69]

10. Jeff Lynde is a God

[RazBerryBeret]

23. would that be

"Strange Magic"???

hehehe, sorry, couldn't resist..I love ELO..

[dipsydoodle]

30. Indeed.....lol.

ELO-Strange Magic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28_unHqjVp0

[RazBerryBeret]

35. yep, that song is now

stuck in my head....

[fasttense]

13. I have lived long enough so that ELO is considered classic rock.

Sigh......

[dipsydoodle]

28. That's one of the main benefits

of not being young - all that beautiful music across the years.:hi:

[PretzelWarrior]

4. silly, silly comment

compared to what? Bush? no contest. Kerry? Ummm....sorry, but I'd rather take the pauses here and there as he organizes his thoughts for his next spoken words than the up and down stentorian voice from 2004.

And I definitely appreciate it more than Hillary's gruff sounds and sometimes wishy washy platitudes.

Maybe there is something tough about addressing such a diaspora of people sort of continuing endlessly into the horizon. Maybe it is difficult to speak as though he's at the convention when he's at the tail end of a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggg primary season full of travel and speeches and this in an 85 degree or above day for 20 to 30 minutes of speaking.

[shadowknows69]

8. A crowd that size can be pretty intimidating I would think

Even to a practiced speaker. Maybe Obama was overwhelmed by his own popularity.

[Why Syzygy]

16. Even with large crowds, he is used to building rapport with the audience.

That would be almost impossible in that situation. I bet the people there were thrilled.
He had 20,000+ on the banks of our river in Austin last year. It was great.

[Rene]

18. they alll just went to an open air church on Sunday.....to see the preacher

[cali]

5. Wow. Impressive desperation

how sad.

[shadowknows69]

9. But cali, they're very concerned for our candidate

:eyes:

[99th_Monkey]

11. In a word, no. It was a fine speech IMHO. ~nt~

[bowens43]

12. what nonsense. I'm am amazed at the ridiculous attacks we see on Obama

This is STUPID. There's no other way to say it.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

14. It's because he just finished having cocaine-fueled gay muslim sex.

Cut the brother a break, won't ya? :crazy:

[crankychatter]

26. why am I looking at this?

?

[lojasmo]

15. Thanks for your 'concern'. EOM.

[Vinca]

17. Was that on today's blog call? nt

[TexasLady]

19. They werent prepared at Woodstock either

but it still made history.

[flor de jasmim]

20. it's harder in the open air - you don't get the same acoustic feedback as indoors

He picked up speed later on... I think he made a decision to ignore the lack of feedback and keep moving.

[alcibiades_mystery]

33. Why the fuck are you even dignifying this stupidity?

The Hillarians are flinging shit because they're depressed about the rally. Don't even grant them their asinine premise. There was nothing wrong with the speech. Obama was amazed, as any normal human being would be, to see such a crowd. It's called an authentic response to an occasion. The Hillarians, trained in faux authenticity for damn near 16 years, are completely unable to recognize such a thing, and almost always chalk it up to poor political gamesmanship. The OP might as well have said "Obama wasn't fake enough in Portland," because that's what they're really saying.

[Sensitivity]

38. Because it was an honest question. Are you a newbie to label me a Hillary supporter??

[Binka]

41. You Are A Newbie Even With A Disabled Profile We Smell You

Honest question my ass. Fucking stupid flame baiting is more like it. And if you have to question who AM is you REALLY haven't been paying attention.

[dorkulon]

21. Yeah, thanks for your concern.

:sarcasm:

[alteredstate]

22. I think there were some problems with the sound system.

The crowd noise was turned off on the CNN broadcast, so there were periods of silence while Senator Obama waited for the cheering to subside. This made Obama's speech seem disjointed. And the crowd was so huge and loud that one of the reporters (from CNN or MSNBC --- not sure which network) said he couldn't even hear himself speaking.

I don't think the 75,000 rally attendees were disappointed. The only thing I'm "concerned" about is about CNN's poor production of this record-breaking event.

[Sensitivity]

36. Thanks for the informative data. I noticed something seemed to be distracting him

[RazBerryBeret]

24. I thought it was a great speech...

very much like his other speeches. it was a little weird to not hear the crowd noise...but you KNEW it was there.
I thought he hit all his points, I do wish MSM would pan the crowd during those speeches--but I think they have their cameras locked on the candidate.
but overall dynamic, inspiring, motivational, as always!!

[saltpoint]

25. Who knows and really -- who cares? The Democratic frontrunner came to

town and 75,000 people showed up. Not a bad Sunday afternoon on the campaign trail if you ask me.

Woodstock wasn't exactly an anticipated event, at least in terms of attendance numbers. But it is celebrated as a landmark rock concert and the specifics of anticipation and planning had nothing to do with how good Hendrix and The Who performed.

Obama's Portland event yesterday was a smashing success.

[saltpoint]

27. Not recommended.

[IDemo]

29. Yep. It's Hillary's to lose after that debacle.

:eyes: :nopity: :crazy:

[alcibiades_mystery]

34. ROFL

The contortions are truly amazing, aren't they?

[NeedleCast]

31. I was There

It was the third time I've heard Obama speak in person and it was the best I've seen him. He was at the top of his game.

[Sensitivity]

37. Great to know. I only saw the first part covered by CNN balot bowl and I seemed jerky

[alcibiades_mystery]

32. Oh my God...

It's official everybody! The most laughable spin of the primary season has been achieved, and there's no topping it.

Obama gets 75,000 people to a rally in Portland, with pictures of a massive crowd swamping the internets. And the Hillarians suggest it is a bad thing. Remarkable. Truly a remarkable ability to bullshit just about anything.

:rofl:

[dana_b]

39. It was his stump speech and maybe he could have thrown more details, etc. into it

but I thought he did well. It was brief and it looked fairly hot there. Maybe he was overheated? Surprised at the turnout? like I said, I think he did well but no, it wasn't his greatest speech.

[Arugula Latte]

40. Here ... Grasp on to one of these: